Super Soup September - Kohlrabi Soup

So normal service is resumed - in other word intermittent and spotty.  There are times when I just don't have anything to say (my Mum would not agree this that statement), so I just won't say anything.  But for the moment I'm back and would like to share a new recipe.

Kohlrabi Soup

This is adapted from Janella Purcell's Wholefood Kitchen.

Ingredients - Serves 4

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Onion

1 Kohlrabi

500ml Vegetable Stock

1 Bay Leaf

500ml Milk (the original recipe used soy or almond milk)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan, dice the onion and to the oil and gently cook for a couple of minutes, but do not brown.

Peel and dice the kohlrabi, then add to the onion.

Add the stock and the bay leaf and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the Kohlrabi is tender. Remove the bay leaf, season and add the milk.  Simmer gently for a couple of minutes, then blend until smooth(ish).

I sprinkled my with a little smoked paprika, to add colour more than flavour and served it with Lidl's best Ryvita knock-offs.

Kohlrabi is a strange vegetable, but we get it on a semi regular basis in our weekly veg box, so it was nice to find a recipe for it.  Kohlrabi can be a wee bit fibrous, so push the blended soup through a sieve, may be required.  It have a very mild flavour and so did the resulting soup, I think this recipe would also work it cauliflower or broccoli were substituted for the kohlrabi (which may not be readily available.  

What we're eating this week

So even though I haven't been posting we have been eating.  I made a really yummy birthday cake for Fluffrick's birthday, much nicer than the one I made for my birthday.  

This is what we are eating this week:

FRIDAY

Risotto - well it was supposed to be until I realised we had hardly any risotto rice, so we had Risini instead, with Leeks, Courgettes and Peas

SATURDAY

Carrot Humus, Baba Ganoush, Pitta Chips and Tabbouleh

SUNDAY

Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Carrots, Broccoli, New Potatoes and Gravy

MONDAY

Chicken Byriani - sort of 

TUESDAY

Pasta with Squash and Sage

WEDNESDAY

Cauliflower and Broccoli Patties, Chips and Peas

THURSDAY

Mushroom and Cavelo Nero Lasagne

And as we got yet another squash in the veg box this week, here is how I make Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

For Base: 

20 Ginger Nuts (or however many there are left in the packet if I didn't tell Fluffrick they were for something specific)

50g of Melted Butter

Blend the biscuits in the food processor and them add the melted butter and blend again.  Press into a 25cm flan tin and chill

For Filling

500g Cooked Pumpkin/Squash

410g Can of Evaporated Milk

2 Free Range Eggs

125g Sugar

Half a teaspoon of Salt

3 teaspoons of Spice (Nutmeg, Ginger, Cinnamon, Mixed Spice)

Blend the cooked pumpkin in the food processor, add the evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, salt and spice and blend until smooth.

Pour over the chilled biscuit base and cook in a preheated oven at Gas Mark 6 for 15 minutes and then a further 45 minutes at Gas Mark 3.  Allow to cool before serving.

Lovely Sunday Lunch

So this is what we had for lunch yesterday.  This has to be one of my favourite meals (it's even one I can get my very non-veggie friend to eat).  On my menu plan I said I was going to make Dhal as well, but I forgot about it until almost everything else was ready, so I didn't bother, but this was more than enough for the three of us.  It is probably more of a spiced mushroom stew, than an authentic Mushroom Dopiaza, anyway authentic or not here is how I make this yummy dish.

Mushroom Dopiaza

Ingredients:
3 Medium Onions, sliced
350g Mushrooms, cut into quarters
1tsp Cumin seeds
1tsp Coriander seeds
1tsp Garam Masala
1 tin chopped tomatoes, liquid only (I used the tomato flesh on the Saturday night Pizza)
1tbs Sunflower Oil

Heat the oil in a large lidded pan, add the sliced onions and fry gently for a few minutes.  Then turn the heat down to it's lowest, put the lid on the pan and cook very gently for between 30 minutes to an hour.  Long, gentle cooking of the onions gives this dish a wonderful sweetness.
Once the onions have cooked, turn the heat up to medium and add the spices and fry for a minute or two.  Add the chopped mushrooms and fry for a few minutes, then add the tomato liquid and simmer for a further 15 minutes.  The liquid should reduce by about half and the flavours intensify.  Serve and enjoy.

Sunday Cinnamon Buns

As I have been asked, I thought I'd most up my recipe for Cinnamon Buns, perfect for a leisurely Sunday breakfast.

Ingredients - makes 12

For Dough
290ml Warm Milk
75g Caster Sugar
1 Teaspoon Easy blend yeast
Half Teaspoon Crushed Cardamom Seeds
90g Butter, melted
1 egg - half in the dough and half to glaze
500g Plain Flour

For Filling
50g Butter
200g Dark Soft Brown Sugar
1 and a half Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon

For the Dough

Put the caster sugar, flour, cardamom, yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the milk to warm it.  Add to the dry ingredients, then add the half egg. Knead, I use a hand mixer with a dough hook and combine and kneed for about five minutes, this will take quite a bit longer if you are doing it by hand.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise until it had doubled in size.

For the Filling

Combine the butter, sugar and cinnamon.  I find the filling easier to spread of the butter is half melted.

To form the buns

Put twelve muffin cases in a muffin tray.  On a very well floured surface place half of the dough.  Knead lightly and them spread out with your fingers, until it is a rough rectangle, about 30cm by 20cm.  Make sure it isn't sticking underneath.  You can use a rolling pin if you like, but this is quite a sticky dough and I have found it mush easier to just push it out.  Once you have your rectangle of dough, spread with half the filling mixture, try to spread it as evenly as possible, leaving 2.5cm clear along the top long edge.  Roll the dough up, from the long side, cut into 6 even rolls.  Place in the muffin cases, so that the spiral of the roll is uppermost.  Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.  Glaze with the remaining egg and sprinkle with a little sugar.

These Cinnamon Buns do not keep well once cooked, however, they do freeze well uncooked.  

If cooking straight away, leave to prove again for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/Gas Mark 6.  Cook the Buns for 20-25 minutes.  These Buns burn quite easily, so keep a close eye on them.

If you have frozen the Buns, defrost overnight, the Buns will prove whilst they are defrosting, and cook as above.

Enjoy warm from the oven, with a good cup of coffee.

Easy Apple Cake

This is a really easy, but very delicious Apple Cake.  It's derived from a Delia Smith recipe for Sticky Tea Bread, I think from her Frugal cookbook, although I don't stick to her instructions.

Ingredients:

150ml Water

150g Caster Sugar

75g Sultanas

100g Butter

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

175g Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Large Egg

3 small or 2 large Apples

Place the water, sugar, butter, sultanas and bicarbonate of soda in a saucepan and heat gently.

The mixture will froth up, don't let it boil over.  Let it gently simmer for 10 minutes, so that the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved and the sultanas have plumped up a little. You can use this time to peel and chop the apples into 1cm dice.

This is where I diverge from Delia's instructions (she would leave this mixture to cool), but you have to work quite quickly.  Add the flour and baking powder to the hot mixture and mix well, then add the egg and mix again.  Finally stir in the apple and tip into a greased 20cm square tin.  And place in an oven preheated to Gas Mark 4.

No cake mixture looks particularly appetizing before it is cooked.  And this is quite a wet batter.    As the batter is warm before it goes in the oven it only need to be cooked for 30 minutes.  If you let the mixture cool before adding the egg, flour and apple, it may need cooking a little longer. 

Here is the finished result, great eaten warm, but also keeps well and is lovely cold.

What to Eat This week

So what are we going to eat this week?  I do have a process for the weekly menu and it starts with the veg box delivery on Thursday.  This is what we received this week...

New Potatoes, Onions, Salad Leaves, Lettuce, Cucumber, Carrots and Spring Greens.  I have to admit this is not the most inspirations selection I have ever received, but it made the decision that Fluffrick will be having salad for lunch an easy one.

Of late my trusty copy of River Cottage Veg Everyday has been my first port of call when deciding how to make best use of the weekly veg box.  It is a wonderful book with a vast selection of great veg recipes, the Spouffle has made a frequent appearance on the weekly menu.  

So what is actually on the menu...

Friday

Tartiflette - veggie style made with potatoes, onions, cheese and double cream

Saturday

Salmon & Prawn Skewers and salad

Sunday

Roast Chicken, New Potatoes, Carrots, Spring Greens and Stuffing

Monday

Chicken Biryani and Naan Bread - this is not an authentic biryani more of a spiced Chicken rice really, but very yummy

Tuesday

Chilli Cheese Polenta with Tomato Sauce - courtesy of Mr Fearnley Whittingstall

Wednesday

Toad in the Hole (with Veggie Sausages) with Carrots, Spring Greens and Onion Gravy

Thursday

Macaroni (well Penne actually) Cheese

I also plan on making a simple Apple Cake at some point this week, which I will document if I can get the camera working again.

Breakfast Banana Bread

I don't know why but I've just gone off breakfast cereal, I'm not keen on toast everyday and a cooked breakfast is definitely only for weekends in this house.  So what to eat for breakfast? Why Breakfast Banana Bread of course.

Ingredients:

125g Caster Sugar
80ml Vegetable Oil
2 Large Eggs
100g Self Raising Flour
100g Wholemeal Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
100g Milk Chocolate, chopped
75g Walnuts, chopped
3-4 Ripe Bananas
1 tsp Demerara Sugar

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4.

 In a bowl combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, walnuts and chocolate.

 Mash the bananas, I do this on a plastic chopping board rather than in a bowl, I just find it easier. In a jug combine the oil, eggs and mashed banana.  The add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well until; it is a smooth batter.

Grease a loaf tin and pour the batter into it. Sprinkle the demerara sugar on top.  Bake for 45 minutes, allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out.

Getting to the root of the problem

I always start to plan my weekly menu on a Thursday after I have received by weekly veg box delivery from Wild Star Food.  We alternate between the Food Miles box and the Mini Gourmet, but at this time of year you will always get root vegetables, so what to do with them.  This weeks menu has very much been lead by an over abundance of roots, especially considering I hadn't used up all the veg we had received the previous week. So this is what I had to work with, Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, Swede, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Golden Beetroot, Sweet Potato, Onions, Green Pepper and Cabbage; and this is what we are going to eat.

• THURSDAY - Spouffle, this is one of my go to recipes at the moment, but as I didn't have any spinach or courgettes I substituted leeks and it turned out quite well. 
• FRIDAY - Smoked Salmon, Potato Salad, Beetroot Salad, Rye Bread and Dill & Creme Fraiche Sauce. I'm currently torturing Fluffrick every day by watching Jamie's 30 Minute Meals and I saw him do an iteration of this a couple of week ago.  It did take far longer than 30 minutes as I baked my own bread and cooked my own beetroot.
• SATURDAY - Tomato Cheesy Pasta Bake,  this I usually make with the addition of Broccoli the like, but instead I had to use Kohlrabi and Carrot and it turned out okay, well everyone ate it.
• SUNDAY - Country Chicken Casserole, I already blogged about this in Warming Food for Cold Days.  It's really good for using lots of root vegetables.
• MONDAY - Mushroom Dopiaza, Bombay Potatoes and Rice, I think I'll try and sneak some Cabbage into the Bombay Potatoes, just a little and hope Fluffrick doesn't notice.
• TUESDAY - Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Parsnip and Rosemary Rolls, this should use Parsnips, Leeks, Carrots, Onion and Swede.
• WEDNESDAY - Vegetable Stir Fry with Potsticker Dumpings and Noodles, this should utilise, Onion, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Green Pepper and Mushrooms.
• THURSDAY - Twice Baked Potato, if it's a cold day, this will be like a lovely edible blanket, yum.

I'm giving Mum an animal based protein some kind, every other day, hopefully that will go down okay and hopefully I won't get too many root vegetables in this week's box.

Beetroot and Carrot Soup

I made Borscht last autumn for Fluffrick's lunch, but for the life of me I can't find the recipe again, so this is not an authentic Borscht but a slightly spicy very earthy Beetroot soup

 Ingredients - for 4 servings
1 Large Onion
250g Carrot
400g Beetroot
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Teaspoon Mild Chilli Powder
1 Litre Vegetable Stock
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

 Finely chop the onion and sweat in a little olive oil for a couple of minutes.  Add the Cumin and Chilli Powder and fry for another couple of minutes.  Peel and finely grate the carrot and beetroot. I definitely use the food processor for this, if you only have a box grater it would be a good idea to use rubber gloves to avoid very pink hands.

Add the grated carrot and beetroot to the onion and mix everything together.  Add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer, put a lid on the pan and very gently simmer for one hour. Blend the soup with a stick blender and serve.

A really easy tea

This is a very quick and easy meal, and really quite delicious.  Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Mushrooms and Cream.

Ingredients - serves 4

120g Smoked Salmon - a use a pack of trimmings as you cut the Salmon up anyway
250ml Double Cream - you replace this with Creme Fraiche for a sharper taste
200g Mushrooms
400g Pasta

Boil the kettle, the sauce doesn't take very long to make.  Slice the mushrooms and fry them in a little olive oil. Put the pasta on to cook. Add the smoked salmon pieces to the mushrooms and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the cream and heat through.  Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, serve and enjoy

Sprout Soup Anyone?

This is not a recipe of my own invention, it is courtesy of Mary Berry's Family Recipes circa 1979 and she called it Frugal Soup, did she not think Brussel Sprout Soup would be appealing?

Ingredients -  serves 4

225g Brussel Sprouts

1 Leek

25g Butter

500ml Stock (from a cube, I use Kallo) Chicken or Vegetable

25g Plain flour

300ml Milk

Salt/Pepper

Nutmeg

Wash and roughly chop the sprouts, you don't need to trim them other than to remove the bottom stalky bit.  Wash the leek and cut into rounds.

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the leeks and soften gently for 5 minutes, don't allow to brown.  Add the hot stock and then the sprouts and bring to the boil.  Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the sprouts are tender.

Blend or liquidize the cooked sprout mixture, I use a hand blender, but they weren't around back when this recipe was initially written.  Whisk the flour into a little of the milk and add to the blended sprouts, followed by the rest of the milk and mix thoroughly.  Bring the soup back to the boil, stirring until slightly thickened, season with salt and pepper.  Serve with a little grated nutmeg.

You could make it even more festive by adding some cooked chestnuts after the soup has been blended, I keep meaning to try it like this, but have yet to get sound to it.

If you wait until next week to make this soup, you should be able to buy a bag of sprouts that the supermarkets are trying to off-load for mere pence, just don't try to give this to anyone who doesn't like sprouts.

Festive Burgers

I wasn't going to write up this recipe as it is only 3 ingredients and beyond simple, but then I realised just how festive it is.  Green pepper, red onion and turkey mince, you can't really get more in the season.

Ingredients - for 8 burgers

1 450g Pack of Free Range Turkey Mince

Half a Green Pepper

1 Red Onion

 Chop the green pepper and red onion finely, it has to be fine as it is cooks with the burger, then add to the turkey mince.  By far the best way to combine the ingredients is just to get you (clean) hands in there, squidge everything together so that the pepper and onion is evenly distributed.

Divide into 8 equal (hopefully more equal than mine) portions and form into burgers.  Then chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Fry in a little olive oil for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.  Ensure that the burgers are cooked all the way through, before serving.  If you are an over achiever like me, serve them with home-made spiced oven chips and home-made baked beans, but you can serve them with whatever you like.

Yummy Aubergine Bake

For quite a while I never knew what to do when an Aubergine arrived in the veg box.  Of late I have been making Moussaka, with either a turkey or vegetable filling (no cute little baa lambs eaten in this house), but the frequency with which the Aubergine shows up has sent me looking for other recipes.  One of these days I will post a recipe that does not include tinned tomatoes, but that day is not today.

Serves 4 -  Ingredients:
1 Large Aubergine
2 Eggs
50ml Milk
50g Plain Flour
150g Breadcrumbs
1 Medium Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Tins of Tomatoes
Olive Oil
125g Mozzarella
250g Ricotta
50g Parmigiana

Peel the Aubergine and cut into slices just over 1/2 cm thick. In a shallow bowl mix the milk with 1 of the eggs, put the flour and breadcrumbs into 2 other shallow dishes. Flour the aubergine slices, dip into the egg & milk mixture and finally into the breadcrumbs.  Put in the fridge for half an hour to dry a little before frying.

 Fry the breaded Aubergine in olive oil (it may take quite a bit of oil)until golden, then drain on some absorbent paper.

Now for the tomato sauce.  Finely slice the onion and garlic, gently fry in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes then add the tomatoes and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes on a medium heat.

For the cheesy layer. In a bowl combine the half the grated mozzarella, the tub of ricotta, the parmigiana and the other egg.

In a large oven proof dish, put a third of the tomato sauce on the bottom and over with half the Aubergine slices.  Top with a further third of the tomato sauce and then all the cheesy mixture.

Top with the other half of the Aubergine slices and then cover with the remainder of the tomato sauce and the remaining grated mozzarella.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 and bake for 30-40 minutes until it is bubbling and the cheese is melted.

Warming Food for Cold Days

The weather has been cold, wet and horrible; which just puts me in the mood for warming and hearty food. So let me introduce you to Chicken Casserole and Dumplings. It's also pretty damn easy to make.

Ingredients for 4 Hungry People:

For Casserole

1 Large Leek

2 Parsnips

2 Carrots

Half a Celeriac

5 Mushrooms

1 400g Tin of Tomatoes

8 Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Plain Flour

Salt/Pepper

For Dumplings

200g Self Raising Flour

70g Vegetable Suet

1 Tsp Mixed Herbs

Salt/Pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190 ^oC/375 ^oF. Wash and slice the leek, both white and green parts, the long cooking makes it all tender.

Peel and chop the root vegetables into 1-1.5 cm dice. You don't have to use these vegetables, it's just what I had to hand. Also great would be, swede, turnip, jerusalem artichoke, sweet potato, I wouldn't use potato as they tend to turn to mush.

Quarter the mushrooms and remove the skin from the chicken portions.

Heat a large casserole (with a lid) on the hob and add the olive oil, gently fry the vegetables for 5 minutes with a little salt and pepper. Add the plain flour and stir it in well. Add the tinned tomatoes and then 1 tin full of hot water. Finally add the chicken portions and try to submerge them in the liquid. Heat on the hob until it is bubbling, then put on the lid and put in the oven for an initial 1 and a half hours. Now go and snuggle up on the sofa and keep warm, or as we did today go to a cold and wet Sharrowvale Market.

Now for the dumplings. Put the self raising flour, suet, herbs and seasoning in a bowl and mix together. Add enough cold water to make a soft slightly sticky dough. Spoon golf ball sized portions on top of the casserole, then return to the oven for a further 20 minutes, this time with the lid off.

Serve up to hungry people, all that will be left is the bones.